Enter, the Heroes
by Magelet1
Summary: Ever wonder what happened when Jon and Alann came back from the Black City?


Enter, The Heroes  
Alanna and Jon returning to Persopolis after they beat the Ysandir.  
By Magelet  
  
Alanna awoke at the small oasis, around what seemed to be midday, to Jon shaking her gently.  
  
"Alanna, wake up." He said  
  
"Jon, what if you slip and call me Alanna around someone else?" she questioned reasonably, stretching and looking at him.   
  
"He grinned, "Don't worry about that. Old habits die hard. The first eight times today I said your name before you woke up, I had to correct myself after saying 'Alan'." He helped her to her feet, "Anyway, we'd better get back to Persopolis now." They walked over to Darkness and Moonlight. He glanced at her then added, "If anyone asks why you're wearing what you are, change the subject." They mounted their horses and began the ride to the city.  
  
"Who do you think noticed that we were gone first?" Alanna asked, looking at her knight-master-to-be.  
  
"I don't know, but I bet they'll guess where we went."   
  
The ride back was boring and for the most part silent, most of the time they kept to their own thoughts, Jon occasionally asking a question about the 'real' Alanna. He didn't phrase it so, but it seemed like it to her, even if he was her best friend next to Raoul or Gary.   
  
When they were within viewing distance of the gates of Persopolis, guards sounded alarms and some soldiers galloped out on their mounts to greet the pair.  
  
"Welcome back, Your Highness, my lord." One man, apparently in charge, nodded to Jon and Alanna in turn. "The governor is waiting for the two of you. If you would follow me." The man turned his horse and started in the other direction. Alanna looked over at Jon to see what her thought, but his face showed no emotion right now. He was thinking about something.  
  
"Jon?" She whispered as the proceeded down the street. That alone was a difficult task as people were bowing, on their knees and all over - the streets were filled. "I don't know what to think. Do they know what we did? Is that why we're doing this? What do we do?"  
  
"Just kind of ignore them and acknowledge them at the same time. Cast your eyes about the crowd but face forward at the same time. They must have sensed the defeat of the Black City. I really don't know. Just go to your rooms as soon as possible and change into decent clothing, Alan." John stressed the name Alan, as if to show that he would never give away her secret.  
  
Their progress was painfully slow, even with a slim path down the middle of the scores of people, the horses were still careful not to step on anyone, and that required moving very slowly. Whispers of the Night One and the Burning-Brightly One filled the streets. Echoes of praise to the god's filled Alanna and Jon's ears.  
  
They were escorted directly to Lord Martin's study; oddly enough, he, Roger, and Myles had not been amongst the crown greeting them. In fact, no one from the palace had been.  
  
"Come in the two of you." Myles said, opening the large door that had previously separated the two heroes from their elders.  
  
Entering the large room nervously, Alanna followed Jon's lead and advice when Myles suddenly broke the uneasy silence by asking what in the god's names had happened to her clothes.  
  
"There was a mishap sir, and I can't really remember well what happened." Alanna lied, looking at the floor.  
  
"The thing is," Jon spoke up, "that neither of us remember what happened clearly, but that the Ysandir, er, Nameless Ones will no longer plague the Bazhir. The whole thing was a shocking experience that we'd rather not share that parts that we remember of it."  
  
"Of course." Lord Martin's voice was flat and expressionless as was normal for him. "You two are dismissed to clean yourselves up. You can find your friends in library where they are to be studying, though I am quite sure that they are not."  
  
Ali Mukatahb and Duke Roger along with Sir Myles and the man who just spoke, watched the two youngsters, the first three with interest in their eyes, as they bowed and let themselves out.  
  
Once out the door, leaving the adults to ponder and discuss the non-answer that they had accepted from the page and squire, Jon and Alanna made their way quietly to their respective rooms.  
  
They both needed to clean up and Alanna needed to get dressed properly and in her own clothing.  
  
By the time Alanna was done, Jon was knocking on her door.  
  
"We might was well face them together, I figure, then alone. It's easier in more was than one; we both have moral support, and it's easier to keep the story straight if we say it together or to everyone at once."  
  
"Jon, are we going to tell anyone the truth?" Alanna asked him as they walked down the empty corridors on their way to the library to meet up with their friends and peers. She was nervous about a great deal of things, and unsure about what to do about most.  
  
"Maybe Sir Myles or George. And Gary and Raoul, but all in private. I don't feel comfortable with the whole thing and I'm not sure about telling many people the truth about the Ysandir and what happened in the Back City."  
  
They neared the library door, and Jon gave Alanna a brisk, reassuring hug before he pulled open the door and entered as silently as was possible, for as the door opened a deadly hush fell over the whispers that had filled the room when the door was but open a crack.  
  
"So," came a familiar voice from the back of the room, "gentlemen, we have in our presence two gods of the Bazhir: The Night One and the Burning-Brightly One, though gods know which is which or where they got those names from."  
  
"Shove it, Raoul." Jon said with a grin, but Alanna could tell that he was happy that at least one person was taking this situation as lightly as he took existence in general.  
  
"Well aren't we acting all high and mighty since we went from prince to god?" Gary joked, standing and walking over to greet his cousin.  
  
"Nah, it's just since he got me as a squire, and that you didn't Gary." Alanna spoke up, also grateful that their friends were the same as always. She grinned at his look of surprise.  
  
"So, how'd you do it? How'd you make the Black City harmless for the future?" That was Geoffrey, speaking from right in front of them. Of course he'd want to know. Before he'd come to the palace, he'd been born and reared in this desert fief, and would have hardly been able to avoid the stories. "I thought that gods were supposed to fell the city, anyway. You two are about as human as they get just like all of us here."  
  
Alanna looked at Jon and Jon looked thoughtful. Gary sat back down, and offered the two seats. Alanna sat, but Jon hesitated for a moment before sitting.  
  
"Just tell the story. Start at the beginning with what gave you two the mad idea of going there in the first place and how you even got out of Persopolis." Raoul was laid back, but anyone who knew him could tell he was anxious to hear the story.  
  
Jon and Alanna exchanged looks, and came to an agreement. Jon would tell the story as he was a better liar and smoother talker when they might not want to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help them gods.  
  
"I hate mysteries." He began, "I rose early and Alan must have heard me readying, because he met me outside my chamber. As is expected, he told me that the idea was a mad one, to his credit, but he came with me anyway, to make sure I didn't kill myself." He grinned at Alanna at this point. She smiled back weakly, knowing that he would keep her secret, or at least hoping, and wondering what he was going to tell and how much he'd leave out.  
  
"We gave a gold crown to the man at the gate who otherwise might have proved to be trouble for us." Suddenly, a thought came to his mind, "Geoffrey, I'd hope you would not tell all of this to your father, but if you do, do not permit him to take any drastic measures with that man, it turned out all right, so no desperate measures need taken.  
  
"But Jon, what if," Geoffrey began, but Jon interrupted him.  
  
"You can if yourself to death, quite literally, but you'll never get any where or anything accomplished if you do. We are unharmed, and will live to see another day. Nothing needs be done to a man who simply wanted a bit of money for his silence."  
  
"Anyway, we rode to the city and looked around a bit. It was so odd. Like everything had been cut from the same stone by a master mason. Then we entered a temple at the end of the street. We saw them standing at the alter," His voice faded, trailing off into silence. "I don't remember much more before waking up at the oasis, do you Alan?" Jon was giving Alanna a chance to verify his modified version of the truth.  
  
She took him up on the opportunity and shook her head vigorously, "No."  
  
They were being stared at. Some of the more intelligent gazes were calculating, such as Raoul, Gary and Alex's, but Jon's face said clearly that the topic was closed to discussion. Jon then stood, signaled to Alanna to do the same, and they retired to the hall.  
  
"Let's get some rest, they'll be wanting the truth in a while once they have figured that odds are that that wasn't the real story. Don't worry; I'll omit the part about you. They don't even know that you arrived wearing only my tunic." With that they went into their own rooms.  
  
  
  
I JUST WANTED TO FILL IN SOME OF THE BLANKS THAT TAMMY LEAVES IN HER BOOKS. THE BOOKS ARE WONDERFUL, BUT DON'T YOU JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED IN THE HOLES SHE LEAVES? ~MAGELET~ P.S. IN CASE ANYONE IS WONDERING WHY MY NAME IS MAGELET AND I'VE NEVER WRITTEN AN IMMORTALS FANFIC, HERE'S YOU ANSWER: I'VE BEGUN A FEW, BUT NEVER GOTTEN AROUND TO FINISHING THEM. WELL READ AND REVIEW! 


End file.
